Shot girl 'gave me a reason to be in a bad situation'

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PORTLAND, Ore. – The teenager who was shot in the chest during Tuesday's Clackamas Town Center shooting and survived got help from a young woman during the chaos.

Even though Kristina Shevchenko, 15, had been shot, she was able to run. She made it through some doors and into a back corridor. But at that point she could go no farther. Amber Spackman saw Shevchenko go down and decided helping her was more important than her own escape from the shooter.

"I want her to know that she was incredibly brave. That she got out. I'm so thankful," Spackman said Thursday.

Spackman was trying on dresses when she heard the shots. She and her mother and sister ran to the back hallway where she saw Shevchenko fall to the ground.

"I felt the need to help," Spackman said. "I felt like, if she's hurt, someone needs to help her. I didn't know at that point if she was shot or not, but I knew she was not OK."

Though she was in danger herself, Spackman said she held Shevchenko's head and felt for a pulse. She saw no sign she'd been shot.

"She said she had a really bad pain in her lower side. So I lifted up her shirt and I felt for it. There was no gunshot wound, no nothing," said Spackman.

She said she and Shevchenko's friend helped her up and out and toward the exit. She is grateful she was able to help Shevchenko during the chaos, the violence and the fear.

"I'm proud of her for being so levelheaded, and I'm thankful that she gave me a reason to be in a bad situation," Spackman said. "That there came some good out of it (and) that I got to help someone. She kind of gave me a meaning to be there. I'm really thankful for that."

Spackman only found out later, when she was watching the news, Shevchenko had actually been shot in the chest. She said it was not obvious at the time.

She was also surprised to see scratches on her own feet: She had run out of the mall barefoot, leaving her clothes and things behind in the changing room.

Support is coming in for Shevchenko from people around the country who are responding to her family's request for prayers and financial help.